nābîʾ

Semantic range

1. 1one who speaks for another
2. 2one called and sent with a message
3. 3possibly from an Akkadian root meaning to call — either the called one or the caller

Exodus 7:1 is the clearest definition in the Bible: Moses is to be "a god to Pharaoh," and Aaron "shall be thy prophet" — that is, the one who speaks Moses's words. A nābîʾ is a mouth, not a fortune-teller. Prediction is a minor part of the prophetic corpus; covenant lawsuit, rebuke and consolation are the bulk of it.

Amos 3:7 — "surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" — is quoted constantly in Latter-day Saint teaching as the principle behind continuing revelation, and Numbers 11:29 ("would God that all the LORD's people were prophets") is the aspiration behind personal revelation as a universal right.

See also

• דָּבָרdābār
• רוּחַrûaḥ
• תּוֹרָהtôrāh